This chapter looks at the underpinnings of two attitudes related to space exploration. When it comes to government investment in the International Space Station, public views are influenced primarily by political factors and education. This pattern is in keeping with public views about government funding for science and engineering, more generally. When it comes to […]
A majority of Americans favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder, but support is at a 40-year low.
Christians remain by far the largest religious group in the United States, but the Christian share of the population has declined markedly. In the past seven years, the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians has dropped from 78.4% to 70.6%. Once an overwhelmingly Protestant nation, the U.S. no longer has a Protestant majority. […]
A solid majority of U.S. Catholics believe that Earth is warming. But climate change is a highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.
Hispanic immigrants are less likely than U.S.-born Hispanics, whites and blacks to use public libraries. But Hispanic immigrants who have made their way to public libraries stand out as the most appreciative of what libraries have to offer.
39% of Americans identify as independents, more than they do as Democrats ( 32%) or as Republicans (23%). This is the highest percentage of independents in more than 75 years of public opinion polling.